Therapeutic Area:	Neurologic Disorders	40 Days Left to Participate
Number of Contributors:	81
Target Completion Date:	June 2013
Project Progress:
Protocol Builder Results:	Click here to view report

Why pioglitazone in Parkinson’s disease?

• Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative condition with no cure. In just the US alone, it is diagnosed in more than 50,000 new patients every year.
• PD is caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons in the brain, which are involved in the control of movement.
• Current treatments can provide symptomatic relief in the early stages of the disease but all have undesired side effects, some serious, and do not halt disease progression.
• Drugs like pioglitazone (glitazones; PPARγ activators) have been used in millions of patients to treat type 2 diabetes. At least three lines of evidence point to a potential for pioglitazone to be effective in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease:

1. Inhibition of neuroinflammation involving reactive microglia
2. Activation of genes controlling cellular bioenergetics
3. Inhibition of MAO-B

• Pioglitazone can be tested for efficacy in patients with PD; if clinical studies confirm its utility it might provide a real alternative for thousands suffering with PD

Please, take part in designing an innovative clinical study of pioglitazone in PD!